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X-Men Legends II: Rise of the Apocalypse
The sequel to the
best-selling X-Men title ever, X-Men Legends , X-Men Legends II: Rise of
Apocalypse is an all new action-RPG that has made its way to the PSP
that lets players create, customize and control teams of four mutants
from 16 all-time favorite X-Men and classic Brotherhood villains from
the Marvel Universe. With the X-Men and Brotherhood fighting side by
side for the first time, players switch instantly between teammates
wielding many more super powers and skills than X-Men Legends , as they
overcome obstacles, solve puzzles and defeat more than 100 types of
enemies including Lady Deathstrike and the notorious Four Horsemen of
Apocalypse.
X-Men Legends 2: Rise
of Apocalypse is the sequel to the highly popular game X-Men Legends
that once again reunites gamers with the Marvel universe and those
uncanny X-men. The story begins with the X-Men and their arch-enemies,
the Brotherhood, teaming up to foil the plans of Apocalypse. Apocalypse
has devised a plan to use the mutant powers of four X-Men to make
himself unstoppable. Once again it’s up to the X-Men to put a halt to
Apocalypse nefarious schemes.
The control system and
playability is similar to the previous title with the gamer controlling
four heroes at any one time, although you only actually 'control' one of
them. As you move through maze-like dungeons, er… sewers… tons of bad
guys hurl themselves in your direction, ready to be mowed like a mutant
lawn.
Each character has
default melee attacks that can be strung into short combos as well as a
long list of “mutant powers” that they can unlock and unleash as they
gain experience points. With over twenty powers per character and
eighteen total characters to choose from, that’s a lot of super heroes
from the Marvel universe.
As with all good RPG
titles, your characters must level up when they acquire enough
experience points and you can distribute stat points, skill points, and
equipment for your team, but keeping more than four mutants adequately
equipped is unfortunately sometimes extremely tedious. Thankfully, the
game includes an “auto-distribute” function that makes sure each
character is wearing what they should be and spending skill points
wisely. Still, you want to have some control over which skills are being
boosted, even as you might grow tired of dressing them and wiping their
drool-covered chins.
Graphically, X-Men
Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse features some great cel-shaded graphics
that really blends with the comic book perfectly. The backgrounds and
environments are varse and interesting that almost mirror real-world
cities with lush detail and a great colour palette. When things are
really flying around, mutants firing away, and me calling for help or
complaining about my lack of power, the framerate can dip quite a bit.
The fantastic screen on
the PSP really complimented the great level of graphics on this game
also. The only issue that I had was that at times, the placement of
shoulder buttons and regular buttons made for some awkward moments. The
analogue stick though does not present the major problem that I thought
it would which is quite a relief.
The introduction of
this title to the PSP brings with it some multiplayer functionality that
allows play to take place between 1-4 players. Internet connectivity is
also possible with up to 4 players.
In
conclusion, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is a worthy sequel to
the original game and although it’s as far as a D&D game as possible
(graphically and with content), in actual fact, it’s just your stock
standard D&D game that is set in modern times with super-heroes, not
that this is a bad thing but it’s just different. A great little RPG
that I would recommend to all lovers of the Marvel and RPG universe, and
a fantastic addition to your PSP game library.
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